The decision was made during the workers’ plenary session, which took place this afternoon, and the days on which the strike will take place have yet to be decided, Paulo Lopez, president of the Federation of Transport and Communications Unions (Fectrans), told Lusa.
“The workers are available to continue the struggle and they have given permission to the unions to fix, as soon as they see fit, five days of hiatus in the manner that has been taking place all these days (three hours per shift),” he explained that the designation of five days of strike would take place on Monday.
Also today, Soflusa workers (with joint management with Transtejo) held a general meeting, but decided to accept the management’s “last proposal”, to incorporate 75% of the benefit they had already received into their salaries.
Paulo Lopez noted that the subsidy has already been received by the workers, but is now part of the basic salary and “disappears as subsidy,” noting that it will have a “reflection in the hourly value” of the work.
When asked by Lusa about the reasons why some 250 Transtego workers did not accept the agreement, the union member replied only that it was a matter of “dignity”.
He stressed that “the Transtigo workers decided with a great deal of dignity, because the last thing they took from them was their dignity.”
Transtego workers, along with the Suffelsa workers, have organized several partial strikes during this year, the last of which was on September 21, due to flaws in wage negotiations between the company’s management and unions, and the Environment Ministry has also met with unions in an attempt to unlock the situation.
Transtejo ensures river connections between Seixal, Montijo, Cacilhas, Trafaria/Porto Brandão, in the Setúbal region, and Lisbon, while Soflusa is responsible for connecting Barreiro to the capital.
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